With CyberScotland Week on the horizon, a social media campaign has launched to bring attention to the common pitfalls of cyber safety.

With only 26% of adults following advice to use three random words in their passwords, the campaign, created by the CyberScotland Partnership, aims to raise awareness of common mistakes people make in relation to their passwords, backing up data and using a password manager. 

Local comedian Fred MacAulay has lent his support to the awareness campaign, through his DIGI Ken? gameshow host character, Chip. Bringing his own brand of humour to cyber awareness, Fred provides a series of top tips including why you shouldn’t use your pet’s name as your password, as well as other DIGI Ken? facts.  

CyberScotland Week – an annual collaboration between partners including the Scottish Government, Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland and Police Scotland – brings experts together for a programme of events designed to build cyber resilience across the country.

The week-long programme, which kicks off on 26^th of February, will focus on the three key themes of collaboration, diversity and resilience. 

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Clare El Azebbi, chair of the CyberScotland partnership, said: “CyberScotland Week, which is in its sixth year, aims to shine a light on the simple steps people can take to improve their online security. 

“It may seem like common sense, but the stats show the reality. While over 60% of Scottish adults know they should use three random words in their password, only a quarter put this into action. The DIGI Ken? online campaign during the week will hopefully raise awareness of the cyber risk. We’re also encouraging people to take part, either in person or online, in CyberScotland Week and more information on the week can be found at cyberscotland.com.”